QUICK! My chicken - use by yesterday - would you eat it?

[ChaChaChaCh4nges]

Used by 4 Feb....

Smells fine.

Would you cook and eat it today?

Bob Martin, a food safety expert at the FSA, said: “It's tempting just to give your food a sniff to see if you think it's gone off, but food bugs like E. coli and salmonella don't cause food to smell off, even when they may have grown to dangerous levels. So food could look and smell fine but still be harmful.”

Yes. I buy a lot of stuff reduced from M&S and either freeze it or use same day or next day and have never had a problem.

Use by dates are usually very conservative and account for poor storage in warm fridges, taking ages to get home and being left in a warm car etc.

As long as it looks OK and smells OK and it is properly cooked, the chance of any problems is not worth worrying about.

If it's been in the fridge, what do you think would have happened in the last 15 hours?

Oh of course it is fine the day after, I would eat it many days later as long as it had been refrigerated.

“It's tempting just to give your food a sniff to see if you think it's gone off, but food bugs like E. coli and salmonella don't cause food to smell off, even when they may have grown to dangerous levels. So food could look and smell fine but still be harmful

True, but if the chicken has ecoli or salmonella in it, it was there yesterday as well, it didn't suddenly materialise today, is the point. If its cooked fully and proper hygiene is in place, the risk of ecoli/salmonella is the same as it was yesterday.
So again, what risk exactly?

Yes. Use by dates are there by law and have to be conservative - it would look bad upon the manufacturer and retailer if something went from perfectly safe to deadly at the stroke of midnight.

As with anything, use your common sense. If it looks fine, smells fine and tastes fine - and is cooked properly - then go for it.

So how does Bob Martin explain how butchers sell food without dates?
Don't supermarket counters also don't provide dates?
The farmer markets I have used again no dates.

Maybe I was in a parallel universe. But a few years ago wasn't there a thing about stopping using use by dates because of the amount of needless waste?

The risk is that refrigeration inhibits but doesn't stop the growth of these thing.
That quotation comes from the NHS. They (with the FSA) are expressing concern that people may be putting their health at risk by eating food past use by dates.
They know more than me.
I'm not taking the risk and would never advise anyone else to do so.

The NHS expresses concern about a lot of things, and the guidelines are usually OTT and aimed at the lowest common denominatior.

It's one day, It'll be absolutely fine, it really will.

Wouldn't even entertain the idea. Why take the chance?

I would use it. I'd probably cook it for longer than usual though, just because.

Yes, I'd definitely use it. I saw a programme once when someone used chicken several days out of date and came to no harm. So long as you cook it thoroughly it'll be fine. It won't suddenly have gone bad in the few hours since midnight.

I wouldn't but I'm very very funny about food, best before dates I don't mind so much but use by I stick with especially with regards to chicken.

I find it so odd and wasteful that people wouldn't use a refrigerated chicken that smells and looks as it should (and really is fine to use) purely because it's just over half a day after the use by date.

I think it is bloody ridiculous too jellybeans people can be quite ridiculous and yes so wasteful. A day after? I mean fgs..

Of course it'll be fine.

Looks OK to me.

No not if its use by.

Well if it looks,smells,feels ok,cook it

I once had a chicken that was in date, from Tesco and unwrapped it and the smell was truly stomach turning! So you can tell very easily if something is bad, the smell filled the house and stayed in my nose for ages. We have no idea why it was bad, bought the previous day, kept in the fridge which was working perfectly. We complained and they blamed a supplier problem. I trust my nose and the look not the use-by date!

Your chicken looks delicious!

Looks tasty, I'm jealous! I did the same around a week ago, did not die of food poisoning

Yes

We've eaten it now.

Use by dates assume that storage has always been at the optimum temperature for that particular product.
However, the use by date cannot detect changes in temperature which can lead to meat turning quicker.
The use by doesn't detect how long the meat was out of fridgeration as you walked around the supermarket, maybe went to the cafe afterwards, and drove home via a couple of other stores.
The use by also doesn't detect that many households have the incorrect temperature in the fridge, or that many stand for several minutes staring into the fridge. The effect the inside temperature too warm food spoils quicker.

If use by dates were the be all and end all, all meat would be stamped. It's not.

If use by dates where the be all then eggs for example would also have the same criteria. Don't eat past would be the advice, right?
So how comes eggs can be eaten after their date and this is recognized by the fsa. Double standards.

I wouldn't